A Desert Flower Amongst Weeds
by Kairi-kun
Summary: Shikamaru gets sent on a mission to Suna and starts to realize a few things. ShikaTema


Diclaimer: I don't own the characters or anime of Naruto

Just a cute little ShikaTema oneshot

"How troublesome.." Shikamaru Nara complained as he packed his bags. He of course got the most troublesome C ranked mission in the entire village. Even more so when he was told that he was being sent alone. The Hokage told him that the mission was to deliver an important scroll to the Kazekage which meant he would have to see Temari whom he thought still hated him. "I don't want a metal fan to the head again." With that thought in mind Shikamaru grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his desk and lit one.

The smoke filled his nose causing it to wrinkle in disgust. The smoking thing became a habit after Asuma's death but he still hated it. Kurenai had urged him to quit but he ignored it and everyone else's attempts to stop it was in vain. But then they started focusing on Naruto and the fact that he was also tearing himself apart over Asuma's death. He believed that since he was in Konoha and a jinchuuriki that he was responsible for Akatsuki's attack and the many deaths that happened because of it. Unlike Shikamaru who had started smoking, Naruto had started drinking. He wouldn't stop no matter how hard everyone pressed for him to stop. But the blonde was stubborn and the more they pushed the more he drank. It took Tenten threatening him with castration for him to start to go sober. The two had been dating for six months now.

Shikamaru sighed and slung his bag lazily over his shoulder and looked around. It had been a couple weeks since his parents had basically kicked him out and sent him to this apartment and for some odd reason he felt lonely. Sighing through the cigarette he locked the door. Ino was walking past and waved him over.

"Hey!" Noticing the bag she asked, "Mission?"

He nodded blowing out the smoke causing her to cough and gag. He dropped it onto the ground and squished it. "There's Kiba so I guess I'll see you when you get back." She ran over and pecked the Inuzuka on the cheek then walked away with him. Shikamaru felt a twinge of jealousy but not because he wanted Ino or Kiba, but because he wanted a relationship. Everyone thought that Shikamaru was too lazy for a relationship but in reality he didn't know what he wanted in the way of a woman. He met Temari and realized that maybe a boring woman whose like him then he would have a really boring wife. Maybe this mission to Suna would give him an idea of what he wanted.

The start of the mission went off without a hitch until he was halfway to Suna. A group of bandits attacked him then. "This isn't the one we wanted boss! Our informant must have gotten it wrong,he told us that the Suna bitch,Temari,was going to Konoha!"

Shikamaru didn't like what they had said and readied himself for the oncoming fight. He slipped back into the taijutsu stance that Asuma had taught them before he died and pulled out four kunai and three shuriken. He calculated that if he aimed at the arguing bandits legs then he could capture them with his shadow. And he was, of course, right. They were easily outsmarted when he threw the kunai which lodged into the ground in front of them. Now they were yelling very colorful words at him that didn't faze him after all the things he had heard Hidan say during their fight. He bent backwards and the bandits hit their heads against the trees behind them which knocked them out. Shikamaru walked over cautiously and brought out a kunai and quickly slit their throats. One disaster taken care of.

With that out of the way, Shikamaru continued his three day journey to Suna. He expected that when he arrived he could go find a place to stay and take a nap before getting started with his job. When he arrived ,though, he was greeted by the Kazekage himself so any other plans were stopped. Gaara held out his hand and shook firmly with the Nara heir. This was the kindest gesture that Gaara had ever made towards Shikamaru which stunned him. He was expecting a glare and a half assed greeting but not this. Then he was led to Gaara's office where they would start the private meeting that he had been sent for.

"I've been informed that you were attacked on your journey here, is that correct Nara-san?" Gaara asked with a slightly less blank face which creeped Shikamaru out as well as confused him. Seeing the puzzled look, Gaara explained. "One of my men was in the area and saw the confrontation then saw fit to inform me."

Shikamaru yawned. "That is correct, Kazekage-sama, but the situation was taken care of."

"I see." That was the end of the pleasantries apparently as Gaara's face become blank. "Now then let's get down to what really brought you here to Suna." Shikamaru handed over a document to Gaara. "The Hokage and I have been discussing instating a shinobi exchange."

Shikamaru blinked twice. "Shinobi exchange?"

"Yes, it would only be for a few months but we both find that survival training in different climates would be beneficial to when new genin would start taking C-ranked missions."

The Nara nodded in understanding. "That sounds plausible considering my own first hand experience when I came to Suna for the first time. It gives valuable skills and allows a better understanding of the area just in case they are attacked and need to fight in an unfamiliar place so that they may use the land for battle effectively."

Gaara gave a curt nod in response. "So you would agree that this is a decent idea?"

"I'm inclined to agree."

Gaara nodded and started scribbling something down on the document from the Hokage. Then he handed it back to the Nara. "Can I count on you to oversee this exchange for the first month or so?"

"Huh?" Was Shikamaru's stupid response.

Gaara gave a puzzled look in return. "I thought the Hokage had informed you that the reason you are here is to also oversee the preparations that are being made and finalize the training regiment."

Shikamaru cursed in his head. He had zoned out when the Hokage had informed him of all the mission details but now he really wished he hadn't. "Troublesome, alright I'll do it. How long will this take?"

"A week at the most." Shikamaru nodded and stood up. "You don't have anywhere to stay do you, Nara-san?"

The boy nodded and Gaara handed him a key. "This is to my home that I share with my siblings. We have a few extra rooms and since this is a favor from me that you are doing this I would like you to stay with us."

Shikamaru accepted with a little hesitance and asked where the nearest training grounds was. Gaara pointed it out and the Nara left. Shikamaru banged his head against the fence when he arrived as he had been unable to tell him no. Now he would have to deal with Kankuro and Temari's annoyance at him when he realized that he'd be stuck with them for a week. Gaara he could deal with because he was no longer a homicidal maniac and actually pleasant company. The Nara sighed and laid back to look at the clouds. None. He sighed and closed his eyes to sleep and actually managed to relax and fall asleep in the shady spot he was laying in.

Until he was hit in the side with something hard. Thinking that maybe it was his mother he muttered nonsense and turned on his other side. "Don't ignore me bastard!" His eyes snapped open. He knew that troublesome voice. He turned onto his back and as he feared it was the troublesome Suna princess herself. Temari. "Why are you sleeping out in the sun, idiot? Trying to get heat stroke?" Shikamaru just ignored her and stood up to crack his muscles. The blonde watched him with a glare firm in place. He grabbed his bag and started walking away from her. "Where are you going, crybaby?!"

He stopped at the familiar nickname and looked over his shoulder. "To my quarters for the next week."

"You're going the wrong way! The only thing over that way is my house." She said, rolling her teal eyes at him.

He raised an eyebrow mockingly. "Why do you think I'm heading the wrong way when I have been here before?I thought the Kazekage would've informed you that I will be staying with you for the duration of my stay."

The Suna princess was staring at him as if he had grown two heads. Then her expression changed to that of anger and he wondered if maybe he should run before she decided to use him for target practice. But she calmed her expression and walked over to stand in front of him. "Want me to escort you through the place so you know where everything is?" He blinked rapidly in shock and she flushed with embarrassment.

"T-That would be great." He cursed the slight stutter and followed the blonde back to her home. It was a fairly large place from the outside and Shikamaru wondered if this was where they had grown up or the house given to all Kazekage's.

"This was the house we grew up in before dad had us all move out and into the Kazekage's mansion. Its not much but its home." Shikamaru saw the fond smile on her face then turned away sharply when he realized he was staring. He swore the heat creeping up his cheeks was from the heat and nothing else.

They opened the door and Shikamaru smelled something burning. Temari cursed and raised down the hall and into another room. He followed and saw that it was indeed the kitchen and a pot was boiling over on the stove. The blonde turned the temperature down and turned to glare at nothing. Obviously, whoever was responsible would pay dearly for almost burning down the place. That's when Kankuro walked to the doorway and Shikamaru motioned for him to run but the puppeteer didn't see him or maybe he was ignoring his warning. The blonde saw Kankuro though and smacked him with her fan and yelled something. Kankuro rubbed the bump that was forming on his head and looked at Shikamaru.

"What's the Nara doing here?" Shikamaru snorted.

Temari gave him a warning glare. "Gaara invited him to stay with us since he's helping with the shinobi exchange preparations."

Shikamaru was confused since he hadn't realized that she knew why he had been in town. Kankuro accepted this and disappeared out of the kitchen and into another room. Temari then dragged the Nara heir around the house, pointing out different things for him. By the end he had a headache from a wack with her fan for something sarcastic he said. Kankuro gave him a sympathetic look and the two sighed collectively.

"So how's life in Konoha?" Was the puppeteer actually trying to start a conversation?

The Nara plopped down on the couch. " As troublesome as ever."

That put an end to that and he took the chance to observe everything in the room. He had never seen this place and he wondered why it was so far from all the other homes. But he didn't bother asking as it would require bringing up a rather touchy subject and he didn't want to piss the brown haired boy off. So he just relaxed and closed his eyes. Then opened them when he was smacked in the knee by something. Temari's hand of course. "Do you enjoy hitting me when I'm relaxing?"

She just sneered at him and walked away which left him slightly ticked off. Shikamaru ran upstairs to his room and closed the door. He didn't remember falling asleep but apparently he must have because the clock now said that it was six in the morning. He groaned and prepared to do his job and finish as quickly as possible.

Shikamaru decided that today he would inspect the places being built for the shinobi that were staying in Suna for the exchange. It took him twenty minutes of walking but he found the half built area. He went into one of the finished out-buildings. It was a small bedroom with a bathroom that had three cots in the bedroom part. Standard. Shikamaru wrote down his first impression on a file then moved on to one of the other buildings. A kitchen that was attached to the first building through a small walkway. This impressed Shikamaru. Now he was a little more awake and alert. The last of the finished buildings was a larger bathroom that had two sides that were probably designated for boys and girls. They were fairly decent sized and Shikamaru was starting to wonder what the ones in Konoha would look like.

By the time he returned to the sand siblings home at ten only Kankuro remained. He looked up and greeted the Nara. "Gaara wants to see you in his office whenever you have time." Shikamaru went to take a shower first then headed off to the Kazekage tower. He knocked and Gaara's sand opened the door for him.

"You were gone this morning." Gaara stated looking at Shikamaru with slightly narrowed eyes.

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, much like Naruto does. "It's troublesome but I decided to check on the buildings being built for the exchange."

Gaara's earlier annoyance vanished instantly and he became curious. "What is your personal opinion?"

"Its a lot better than I expected it to be." Shikamaru admitted. "I assume it will be only six to twelve shinobi being traded places, right?" Gaara nodded. "The set up for that is rather well and once all electricity and plumbing has been hooked up then it'll be a fine place to live."

Gaara nodded in satisfaction and jotted something down on a paper on his desk. "Have you seen the training area yet?" Shikamaru shook his head. "When you find time to visit it then please come back and tell me what you think." Shikamaru nodded and excused himself.

As he walked back to the house he noticed something odd. Temari was with a child around four who was crying. He moved closer so that he could hear.

"It'll be okay, Arashi. Your sister will be just fine within the next couple of weeks then she can train you some more but until then you can train with me, okay?" The boys eyes lit up and he hugged Temari tightly.

"Thanks Temari-chan." Then he ran off and Temari smiled fondly. This surprised Shikamaru a lot. He didn't think Temari had a soft side and now he was curious. But he knew not to pry into her life since he wasn't particularly close to her. So he continued walking but he couldn't stop thinking about it. That smile was stuck in Shikamaru's head and now it was causing him sever annoyance. He turned and walked to the training area that he was to go see and hoped that he would forget.

He didn't. It had been almost four hours of observing construction of the new buildings and making suggestions on a piece of paper for training exercises and he still couldn't stop thinking about Temari. She was a lot different then he originally thought. A long drawled out sigh escaped his lips and he threw his stuff down beside him to rest for awhile. Then his stomach growled and he decided that lunch was a must. He then happened to run into Kankuro again. The puppeteer noticed Shikamaru looking for a restaurant to eat at and dragged the Nara to the nearest ramen stand to eat with him. He didn't really mind all that much.

"So how's the job going?" Shikamaru slurped his noodles and looked at Kankuro.

His lips twitched up. "It's coming along rather well."

"Gaara has been really excited about this." Kankuro admitted. "He may not show it outwardly but he's always scribbling down ideas for training exercises or who he wants to teach the shinobi from Konoha."

Now that surprised Shikamaru. "Does he have someone particular in mind for a sensei?"

"Hm, I think he was thinking that he'd have me and Temari help Baki train them. Maybe he'd even do some helping out as well." The brown haired man snapped his fingers. "He wants to put in a request to the Hokage to have Naruto, Neji, and you help out with our shinobi."

"Troublesome...really troublesome..." But Shikamaru said it halfheartedly. "Naruto's even more troublesome."

Kankuro barked out a laugh and slapped a hand against his back. "I agree but this should be really entertaining." And Shikamaru couldn't help but agree.

The two continued eating and Shikamaru found himself asking, "Does Temari have a softer side?"

"Hm? Yeah I guess she does." Kankuro seemed to think about it. "She liked children and is always trying to help out others who can't do much on their own so I guess she really does have a softer side. But she's such a strong willed woman that you wouldn't think so just by looking at her or think that she used to play with stuffed animals and braid moms hair like a normal girl."

Shikamaru was amused by that and snickered when he imagined it. Kankuro and him fist bumped. The start of a beautiful friendship. They finished their meal and Shikamaru was back to work with training regiments and building plans. But he promised to be back before dark. He lost track of time then and starting running back to the house that was twenty minutes away and it was already starting to get dark. He didn't see the rock in front of him though and tripped onto the ground. He landed on his wrist and hissed in pain. A nice bruise was starting to form and Shikamaru continued on, holding his wrist.

By the time he arrived it was dark and he was in a lot of pain. Kankuro was waiting up for him and saw him holding his wrist. He pulled Shikamaru's hand away and gasped when he saw the bruise that had formed and it was starting to swell. He yelled for Temari who could do first aid and she gasped at what she saw. Quickly they dragged him into the bathroom and Kankuro went to inform Gaara of what happened. Temari pulled out an antiseptic and sprayed it over the wound. Shikamaru hissed in pain and Temari frowned at him with concern. "How did you do this?" He explained about him running back and tripping. She sighed and started wrapping it up. "Looks like a bad sprain but we'll take you to a medic in the morning."

Shikamaru noted that she hadn't called him an idiot for his clumsiness and just tended to his wounds like she would to a normal person. "Why are you being nice when you hate me?"

"I never hated you." She said it like it was natural for her and Shikamaru was shocked. He wanted to say something else but she cut him off. "You should go upstairs and get some rest."

He couldn't sleep though. All he thought about was what Temari had said and now he was in a very bad mood. So he pulled out a cigarette and started smoking like he always did. Shikamaru heard the door swing open later when he started smoking another cigarette and he jumped. Temari was staring at him with annoyance and stomped towards him. She grabbed the cigarette and put it out. "What are you doing?!" She demanded and he tried to think of something sarcastic to say. Then Kankuro and Gaara were standing at the door too. Shikamaru groaned and muttered something about troublesome families. Kankuro then escorted Shikamaru to the hospital with Temari in tow and growling about idiot Nara's.

The last couple days of his stay were eventful and Shikamaru was certain that he didn't want to be apart of this exchange anytime soon. But he went over all the things that he had learned and couldn't help but smile. As he walked back to the leaf he held up a miniature fan that Temari had given him. She liked him. That much was clear to him now. And he liked her too but he thought telling her that would be unexpected and somewhat bad with the timing. Next time he was in Suna maybe.

'Asuma-sensei you always said that women were like flowers, didn't you? You were right and I knows that now.' Shikamaru thought. 'Temari is like a desert flower blooming amongst weeds.'

Review and tell me what you think!


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